MANILA, Philippines – Simon Enciso rose to the occasion big-time to help Alaska even its semifinals series against Meralco in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup and one of his key motivation is to prove his doubters wrong. 

The spitfire guard submitted 23 points on top of 2 rebounds and 2 assists and served as the sparkplug that powered the Aces into a 100-95 win in Game 2 of the best-of-five duel on Tuesday, November 13. 

It was a major upgrade from his performance in their 92-97 Game 1 loss to the Bolts on Sunday that saw Enciso limited to just 5 points despite playing for nearly 33 minutes. 

“Every game, you try to find an edge. And a lot of people were like, ‘What happened to Simon? What happened to Simon?'” he told reporters after the game. 

“Of course, it feeds you motivation and fire to come out the next game and prove people wrong.” 

After scoring just 3 points in the maiden period, the 27-year-old caught fire for 4 triples to finish with 18 markers in the middle quarters as the Aces enjoyed a lead as big as 20 points.

The Bolts threatened a comeback and trimmed their deficit to a whisker in the final frame but fell short of their gallant effort with Enciso sealing the win for the Aces with two clutch foul shots in the final 2 seconds. 

“I was really hard on myself and I knew I had to step my game up. Luckily, my teammates gave me the confidence and found me when I was open. I just knocked down shots,” he added. 

Enciso also wanted to give Mike Harris, who has been carrying the scoring cudgels for the Aces, a little breather on offense. 

“He (Harris) takes up a lot of the load on offense and if he can keep doing what he’s doing and we chip in maybe 15 or 20 points, then it’s kind of hard to stop a team like that.” 

Enciso and the Aces seek to ride on the momentum they gained when they face the Bolts in Game 3 on Thursday, November 15, at the Cuneta Astrodome. – Rappler.com